Experts differ on re-award of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway

THE re-award of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway contract to Julius Berger Nigeria Plc and RCC Limited has continued to elicit reactions with many expressing divergent views on the propriety or otherwise of the new cost of the project.

The Federal Government had revoked the contract to the concessionaire, Bi-Courtney Consortium, last month for failure to deliver on the project.

According to the terms of reference, the new contractors are expected to carry out repairs on the road in phases with reconstruction from Sagamu to Ibadan end within the next eight weeks ahead of the yuletide.

The cost allocated for the exercise is N52billion, a cost, which has raised eyebrows in some quarters.

But a cross-section of experts who spoke with The Nation at the weekend said a number of factors determine the cost and valuation of turnkey project of such nature.

Firing the first salvo, Mr. Yusuf Sagaya, Chairman, Yolas Construction Limited, an indigenous construction firm, who would not be drawn into the controversy surrounding the revocation of the contract to Bi-Courtney, said a lot of factors such as terrain, topography, among others, are what determine the cost allotted to a road contract.

“You can’t weigh cost in isolation. Several factors such as engineering details, design are what determine how and what it would cost to carry out a project, especially road,” he said.

Echoing similar sentiments, Mr. Toke Olaniyan, a Civil Engineer and member of the Institute of Facility Management (IFMA) Nigeria, said, “There are many parameters you have to consider before you give a cost,” he said. “One would want to know the existing condition of that road, what are the preparatory works to do on the existing road surface before you can talk of a patch work? And patch works are of many types. So it’s important one knows the parameters, one knows exactly what the client wants before one can arrive at an estimate.”

Corroborating Olaniyan, Engr. Tony Nzeaku, the president of IFMA, while commenting on the cost and time-frame of the project said, “The scope of a project determines the timeline. If you have a project that should take two weeks, and you have the machinery, manpower, materials, and you have the window of opportunity whereby you can close the road, or you work only at night, it’s all feasible. It depends on the scope.”

Meanwhile, Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen has blamed previous administrations for deplorable situation of roads in many part of the country.

Onolememen expressed the disgust at the Academy of Entrepreneurial Studies (AES) Excellence Club 3rd Annual CEO’s Dinner/Awards Night in Lagos over the weekend.

The minister said the poor state of the roads was inimical to the nation’s development.

According to him, the development in America is due to the county’s success in the management of its roads.

He stressed the need for greater investments in the construction and maintenance of good road network to enhance the nation’s economy.

The minister said that investments in road infrastructure were needed to achieve the transformation agenda of the government for Nigeria to be among the top 20 economies of the world by 2020.

He said Nigeria’s road infrastructure had to grow from the current 194,000 Km to about 300,000.